Pac-12 roundup: Wildcats make statement at Pac-12 tournament

LAS VEGAS – T.J. McConnell laid out like a baserunner diving headfirst into a base. He missed the ball, but, after landing with a thud, jumped up and raced the other direction.

Aaron Gordon, who did get the steal because of McConnell’s effort, flipped the ball ahead and Arizona’s point guard ran under it, scoring an easy basket in transition.

The play, and countless others like it in a spirit-crushing rout over Utah, let the rest of the Pac-12 field – and the country – know that one of the nation’s best defenses is in high gear for the postseason.

Playing with a feverish intensity from the opening tip, Arizona raced through the record book and overwhelmed the stunned Utes in a 71-39 rout on Thursday to match the most lopsided game in Pac-12 tournament history.

“We were locked in,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “Everything that we wanted to do defensively, we were able to do it.”

Nick Johnson scored 14 points, McConnell 13 and Gordon added 11 for Arizona, which shot 53 percent.

That was just a side note to what the Wildcats were doing defensively.

After playing two close games against Utah during the regular season, top-seeded Arizona (29-3) opened the tournament with a have-to-see-it-to-believe-it defensive performance.

Energized by a raucous crowd that made it feel like the McKale Center, the Wildcats were at their lane-jumping, shot-contesting best against the Utes (21-11) to move into Friday’s semifinals against Colorado.

Arizona jumped on Utah early and had stamped its name in the record books by then, setting marks for fewest points allowed, fewest field goals (12) and lowest shooting percentage (25).

The Wildcats held the Utes to 13 points in the first half, another record, and matched UCLA’s 32-point win over Oregon State in 2006.

Jordan Loveridge and Delon Wright, Utah’s leading scorers, combined for seven points on 1-of-4 shooting and Utah lost by 13 fewer points than its 10 previous losses combined.

Arizona had hoped to make a statement in the Pac-12 tournament to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Pac-12 regular-season champion Wildcats certainly did in their tournament opener, playing with an intensity Utah had no chance of matching after playing a close game against Washington the night before.

Colorado 59, California 56: Askia Booker scored 17 points, Xavier Talton added 13 and the Buffaloes held off the Golden Bears.

Colorado (23-10) led by as much as 11 before the Bears made a late run to make it close.

The Buffaloes went ahead 58-54 when Booker hit two free throws with 12.1 seconds left, but Eli Stalzer only hit 1 of 2 free throws after Justin Cobbs scored on a layup. Cal raced down the floor to get off a potential tying 3-pointer, but Cobbs’ shot came up short.

Cobbs finished with 21 points, five assists and four rebounds. Tyrone Wallace added 13 points for Cal (19-13).

Stanford 79, Arizona State 58: Chasson Randle scored 21 points and the Cardinal jumped on the third-seeded Sun Devils early.

Stanford (21-11) built any early 10-point lead, answered when Arizona State (21-11) tried to make a run and pulled away down the stretch to give its NCAA tournament hopes a huge boost.